Outdoor 1-8 - Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce

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6Williamsport Sun-Gazette, June 2013 SMALL BUSINESS Friedman Electric meets all customer needs By MIKE REUTHER mreuther@sungazette.com Friedman Electric services customers ranging from the homeowner to those in the electronics, maintenance and natural gas industries. “We service a pretty broad-based market,” said Eric Hoover, manager of the store at 325 Penn St., Williamsport. Since opening the store in October 2011, business has been good, he said. All told, the 8,000 square foot building, which includes a showroom and spacious warehouse, offers a wide assortment of items. Hoover noted that store employees are trained to serve the customer. “They understand customer needs,” he said. On any given day the store receives its share of MIKE REUTHER/Sun-Gazette Eric Hoover, manager of Friedman Electric, 325 Penn St., stands in the warehouse of the business. The warehouse stocks a plethora of items. However, items not found at the Williamsport site can be delivered from the storeʼs New Jersey distribution site. foot traffic. Hoover attributes that to the store’s location and its easy accessibility at the corner of Penn and East Third Streets in the city’s East End. The business is growing and plans are in the works to add another employee. Besides Hoover, the employee base consists of a warehouse manager, two inside sales people, an outside sales person. Before the store even opened two years ago, Friedman had a presence in the local area, according to Hoover. “We’ve had an outside salesman here for the last seven years,” he said. The store does not include a service department. “It’s a great company,” he said. “We have great people, and that’s what makes it easy to do business with us.” Hoover said the store does its best to serve all MIKE REUTHER/Sun-Gazette The staff of Friedman Electric, from left: Eric Hoover, manager, and Dean Minium and Brent Walz. customer needs, and a distribution center in Monroe, N.J. makes it convenient to obtain items that are not readily on hand. “We don’t run out of stuff often,” he said. “Even if we do, it’s next day delivery from New Jersey.” Hoover said store personnel strive to meet all customer needs. The Williamsport business is among more than a dozen Friedman stores. “I’ve been in the business since 1989,” Hoover said. “It’s fun. You get to meet a lot of people. You learn something every day.” Recently, the store launched a commercial lighting department. Hoover noted that there has been a greater demand for LED lighting, and that has led the company to becoming “more green.” Store hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. HOURS: Monday - Saturday 10:00 am to Close Sunday Noon to Close 1225 River Ave. Williamsport • faxonbowling.com 323-0273
Governor’s Impact Awards Recognizes Best Across PA Two Lycoming County Businesses Recognized as Award Winners Over 700 representatives from businesses across Pennsylvania representing some of the state’s most successful and dynamic businesses were in attendance for the inaugural Governor’s Impact Awards on May 23 in Hershey. Governor Tom Corbett welcomed the nalists, and Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Alan C. Walker presented awards along with Matt Zieger of the Team Pennsylvania Foundation. Nominations for each award were provided by the state’s regional economic development partners – the Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance (PREP) network. The state’s 10 PREP regions submitted a total of 250 nominations. Awards were given for Community Impact, Entrepreneur Impact, Export Impact, Jobs First Impact and Small Impact. Lycoming County had four businesses that were nalists in the Central Region. Those businesses were Discovery Machine - Small Business category, Halliburton – Jobs First category, Kellogg’s – Community Impact category, Ralph S. Alberts Company – Small Business category. Kellogg’s and Ralph S. Alberts Company won awards in their respective categories. Companies could selfnominate or were nominated by a local economic development organization. Nominated companies were required to be based or have signicant operations in their respective PREP regions, be for-prot entities and be in good standing with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. An independent panel of judges evaluated the pool of nalists based on merit to determine a winner from each PREP region in each of the ve award categories. Scoring was based on how each company fared against the award category criteria, with the highest-scoring nalists per PREP region being named the winners. There were six judges. They were Donald M. Bernhard, PPL Corporation; Ruthann Black, Black Consulting Services; Ann Dugan, University of Pittsburgh; Darryl P. Gordon, High Company; Karen Winner SED, The Winner Companies; Jeffrey J. Vrabel, Parente- Beard LLC. Below are excerpts from the awards program in recognizing Kellogg’s and Ralph S. Alberts for their respective awards. 7 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, June 2013 Ralph S. Alberts Company/ Alberts Spray Solutions LLC Kellogg’s The Ralph S. Alberts Co/Alberts Spray Solutions LLC began when Ralph Alberts helped Piper Aircraft nd a new way to make door panels for small aircraft. Alberts started working on the problem in his basement, and as his business grew, he moved to his garage. Some of his other early contracts were RCA and Hershey Park. Fifty years later, the company has grown from one employee to 90 employees, and is now housed in a 37,000 square foot manufacturing facility. Additionally, Alberts is currently nalizing an expansion on the property adjacent to the existing facility. The Kellogg’s plant regularly conducts food, toy and pet-supply drives, and it donated nearly $56,000 worth of products to community organizations, nonprot events and military overseas in 2012. In addition to nancial contributions to the community, many employees involve themselves in local civic and nonprot efforts. After Hurricane Sandy, employees took eight skids of Kellogg’s products to the Disaster Relief Center in Staten Island. Tony the Tiger visits local preschools to promote healthy breakfasts, and leftover meals from plant functions are donated to the St. Anthony’s Soup Kitchen, where many employees also volunteer. The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce congratulates all four of our companies that were recognized for their achievement.
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Outdoor 1-8 - Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce

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